Chapter 252: It Was Winslow Who Saved Me! You Were Deceived!

Chapter 252: Chapter 252: It Was Winslow Who Saved Me! You Were Deceived!

Finn Lockwood thought he had pretty good judgment. At the very least, he knew his grandfather well enough. Under what circumstances would Master Lockwood ever make private phone calls to Sophie Winslow?

During the few seconds Finn hesitated, his grandfather urged him impatiently, "What are you spacing out for? Julian came over today. Spend some time with him, settle down, and stop being so flaky all day long."

Bringing this up only made Master Lockwood feel exhausted. They were around the same age, so why was there such a massive gap between them?

He had always been aware of Julian Sterling’s situation. The young man had been exceptionally brilliant since childhood; otherwise, the former chairman of the Sterling Family wouldn’t have handpicked Julian as his successor when he was just a teenager. It hadn’t left the rest of the Sterlings even a single chance to compete.

He felt that Finn’s life had been far too easy, which was why he had turned out to be such a slacker.

Finn didn’t actually refute this. He genuinely admired Julian from the bottom of his heart.

"I know, you never get tired of saying it," he replied.

Sitting next to Sophie, Master Lockwood sneered, not sparing his grandson any face. "If you really knew, you wouldn’t have thrown so much money down the drain. You lost every last penny and ended up being the laughingstock among your brothers and sisters."

It was more than just that. Finn hadn’t simply lost money. His reputation had almost been irredeemably tanked. A high-risk smart medical device had led to a major fatal medical malpractice lawsuit, which was incredibly detrimental to the family business’s corporate image.

Finn looked rather embarrassed.

Julian Sterling only remarked mildly, "Investment failures are common."

"Don’t make excuses for him," Master Lockwood immediately shot back. "He just needs to suffer a bit and learn his lesson."

Sophie gazed at the rich, fragrant red bean soup in front of her, easily sensing Master Lockwood’s bitter disappointment in his grandson’s failure to meet expectations. Although Finn had been demoted to a branch company, Master Lockwood was actually trying to temper and train him.

The sharp trill of Julian Sterling’s phone broke the atmosphere.

He glanced at the screen and stood up. "I need to take this call."

Master Lockwood waved him off.

Sophie didn’t even spare him an extra glance.

Once it was just the three of them left in the room, Finn cast a thoughtful look at Sophie, wanting to ask exactly how she knew his grandfather.

However, Master Lockwood spoke up first. "You have absolutely zero long-term vision when it comes to an excellent project like Helios. Recently, Helios’s fully-assembled machine has been making huge waves in the industry. They’ve even broken into overseas markets. If you had just been careful and done exactly as I said, you would be eating a share of those dividends right now."

Finn subconsciously glanced at Sophie. After all, she was from Helios. Being scolded about this right in front of her naturally made him lose face.

"Grandpa, no investment is a hundred percent guaranteed to make money," he argued.

Master Lockwood chuckled coldly. "Didn’t I explicitly tell you to invest in Helios? Why did you sneak around and act on your own?"

"..."

"Helios’s machine technology is not simple. There must be a formidable figure behind the scenes leading the research and development," Master Lockwood pondered aloud.

Sophie silently lowered her head and picked up her soup spoon.

Finn wasn’t willing to let his grandfather disparage Stella Sutton’s project and capabilities in front of Sophie, so he bluntly defended her. "Miss Sutton’s project was merely implicated. The doctor responsible for the accident was the son of a powerful figure. What could Miss Sutton possibly do about that? She’s a victim here, too."

Master Lockwood’s tone instantly turned icy. "If her skill level was truly high, she might have been able to help that doctor resolve the critical technical issues in his surgical procedures. How could there even be a medical accident then? Isn’t the point of technology to change things for the better? Otherwise, what use is it?"

Finn’s face contorted into an ugly expression.

Sophie couldn’t help but marvel. There was truly no substitute for experience—Master Lockwood’s words were undeniably sharp. Finding him quite amusing, she silently curled her lips into a faint smile.

However, Finn caught that fleeting smile. He frowned immediately.

Was Sophie actually mocking Stella Sutton?

Finn’s mouth twitched in annoyance. "Grandpa, you say I have poor judgment and you trash a true talent as worthless, yet you are so exceptionally amiable toward Sophie. What exactly do you value in her?"

Master Lockwood shot him a bizarre look.

Finn threw a mocking glance at Sophie before deliberately continuing. "No matter what, Miss Sutton is a benefactor of the Lockwood Family. The Lockwoods will grant her any request, at any time. Grandpa, she saved your life. You can’t just ignore her kindness because of one single failure."

Hearing the word "benefactor," a meaningful glint flashed through Sophie’s eyes. Suddenly, everything clicked into place. Her mind became crystal clear, and she shot Finn a very strange look.

Master Lockwood also thought he had misheard. He actually dug at his ear. "Say that again? Who saved me?"

Finn suddenly realized the atmosphere was completely wrong. The words he had been about to blurt out faltered on his tongue. Especially when he met his grandfather’s exasperated, furious glare—a look of someone who was so angry he could only laugh—Finn felt a sudden, inexplicable chill run down his spine, accompanied by a bottomless sense of dread.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Finn asked.

"Who told you that? That Miss Sutton?" Master Lockwood demanded directly.

"What’s wrong?"

Master Lockwood slammed his hand on the table and stood up. He grabbed his walking cane, strode over, and brought it down on Finn without a second of hesitation.

WHACK!

Master Lockwood packed quite a punch. Finn instantly jumped up in pain, but his grandfather didn’t think it was enough. He chased Finn around, landing several more solid strikes before finally leaning heavily on his cane, panting for breath. "You little bastard! How can you be so stupid that you let others lead you around by the nose?! That so-called Miss Sutton of yours wanted to fraudulently claim the credit from the very beginning! At my birthday banquet, I already stripped her of her dignity, and she is well aware of it. Are you still letting her use you!?"

Finn couldn’t even care about the bone-shattering pain wracking his body. He opened his mouth in sheer astonishment. "It wasn’t Stella Sutton?"

Master Lockwood reached out and pointed a trembling finger at Sophie, who was still sitting steadily in her seat. "Winslow was the one who saved me back then! I am not so senile that I don’t even recognize the person who saved my life!"

Finn snapped his head toward Sophie. His eyes went wide, so shell-shocked that he couldn’t force out a single sound.

Sophie showed absolutely zero intention of pretending to be polite or stepping in to stop the old man from beating his own grandson. Noticing Finn’s gaze, she calmly set down her spoon and quietly met his eyes.

It was exactly this tranquil gaze—as if she had been watching a complete and utter moron from the very beginning—that was far more humiliating than being directly cursed at.

Finn’s face flushed and paled in rapid succession. He was so intensely mortified that he wanted nothing more than to push open the window and jump out!

His memories of the past became exceptionally vivid in this moment. He recalled how he had repeatedly spoken disrespectfully to Sophie to protect Stella Sutton. He had doubled down on his hostility because he genuinely believed Sophie was trying to steal Stella Sutton’s credit. Even much earlier, when the two women had first clashed, he had actually gotten physical and shoved Sophie on Stella Sutton’s behalf...

And his project investment had been entirely driven by his gratitude for Stella Sutton’s supposed lifesaving favor. Furthermore, after his grandfather’s birthday banquet, she had explicitly and deliberately misled him yet again, and he had even continued funneling resources and connections to her...

Noticing Finn’s horrifying expression, Master Lockwood suddenly asked, "What is with that face? Have you already done something incredibly stupid? Did you do something to Winslow..."

He suddenly recalled Finn’s distinctly unfriendly attitude toward Sophie just moments ago...

"You utter bastard!" Master Lockwood roared, his head spinning with fury. "Don’t even think about returning to headquarters! If you actually have the guts and the ability, produce real results and rely on your own skills. Otherwise, you can rot down at the branch office for the rest of your life!"

Finn’s breathing grew erratic, his complexion turning dreadful. If he wasn’t transferred back, just what kind of massive achievement would he have to pull off to earn a promotion back to headquarters?

Guessing that his grandson had likely done nothing good, Master Lockwood looked at Sophie with profound apology. "Winslow, has he offended you?"

Sophie knew that conventional etiquette dictated she politely say no, but she ultimately chose to stand up for herself. "Quite a few times."

Finn’s face stiffened even further.

Sophie looked right at him, enunciating every single word. "You need to apologize."